Earth Rumble Champion
by Lizzie Annee
Summary: Inspired by another story that I read a little while back - credit to the author it was awesome - Korra has always been told that she is far more nosey than is good for her but no one ever though to actually stop her x


_*Inspired by another story I read a little while back … credit to the original author 3 _

Korra knocked lazily on the locked door of the esteemed Chief Beifong, ignoring the looks being thrown at her by the detectives milling about in the main office.

"Can I help you Avatar Korra?" called Wing, a young detective that had recently transferred from the Fire Nation.

"Is Lin here?"

"I'm afraid not … Chief Beifong has not been in the office for 3 days now".

Korra stepped away from the door and towards the young detective, her arms swinging, the paperwork Asami had asked her to get signed waving in the breeze.

"Where did she go?"

"To be perfectly honest Avatar I don't know"

Korra huffed, and swung herself onto the young detective's desk.

"Do you know when she will be back ... Asami needs these signed as soon as possible so that she can begin production on the new metal bending suits?"

Wing leant back in his chair.

"I'm sure Assistant Chief Saihkan will sign them for you and I will pass on to Chief Beifong when she returns that you came by"

Korra let her legs slide of the desk and smiled down at Wing.

"You know I'm going to look for her anyway don't you?"

The firebender nodded and took the slips of paper, putting them in his top drawer. He then stood and held out an arm, gesturing for Korra to lead the way.

"I know that … and I also know that there is no way I can stop you so I am going to escort you out of the building before you start your next Avatar quest"

"You've been talking to Iroh again haven't you?"

The detective merely smiled and held open the door.

"Goodbye Avatar"

Having touched base with her wife, Korra set off on her little mission. Never one to sit around when there was someone else's business she could nose around in Korra had grabbed a bag and had headed straight for the Beifong estate on the edge of Republic City.

Never quite understanding why Lin had chosen to live so far out of the city Korra stood on the edge of the property admiring the huge building.

The estate it self was spectacular, huge lawns filled with statues from what she can only assume was a time when Suyin was still living here. A pond lay south of the main building surrounded by trees. And then you had the property itself. A huge sprawling building, made entirely from what seemed to be stone, although what kind of stone was a complete mystery due to the sparkling finish.

Korra stepped past the metal gate which bore the Beifong insignia and followed the path up to the main doors. Not quite knowing what to do next Korra knocked, before taking a step to the side to look through the glass window.

"Lin … are you there?"

When she received no answer she pushed at the door gently, not altogether surprised when it just swung open. Stepping inside the house Korra did a double take. Everywhere there seemed to pictures of Lin and Suyin as children, pictures of them with their mother, ones of Lin and Kya and Tenzin and Bumi. There were also newspaper clippings of what looked like a trio of young women in pro-bending uniforms that could only have been Lin, Kya and Izumi.

"Hello?"

Listening to her voice echo around the hall Korra followed it out into a sprawling lounge and again waited for an answer.

When she finally realized that the house was empty Korra snooped around. Even though she knew that she was likely to be buried alive if the sourly police chief caught her, the urge to see how she lived proved too strong to ignore.

The main living rooms were along the lines of what she expected them to be like but it was the closet in the bedroom that made her gasp. Rows and rows of gowns made up of different fabrics and colours filled up the closet.

"Who knew Lin was so girly" Korra muttered to herself as she moved past the closet and looked over the items lying on shelves around the room.

After a while Korra wondered the grounds, moving further and further away from the house until she could no longer see it. Getting ready to head back to house something stopped the young woman to stop in her tracks.

Not quite sure what had stopped her Korra closed her eyes and listened.

There it was.

Just on the distance she could hear the faintest sound.

Following the sound until she could clearly make out cheering Korra stopped at the edge of the clearing that she had been walking through.

Just through the trees she could see the entrance to a cave that was being swarmed by people. Blending into the crowd Korra made her way through the tunnels until she came out into a lit arena.

"Earth Rumble" she whispered to herself.

Finding a seat relatively close to the action but not to far to draw attention to herself Korra watched as competitor after competitor threw rocks at each other.

"And know we have our final competitor … facing our current champion we have Sao"

The announcer drawled into the microphone that seemed to appear from nothing as he leapt down on to the main platform.

The competitor took a step forward, his arms raised above his head.

"And tonight … I bring you our current champion … an Earth Rumble champion for the past 6 years … Lin"

Korra gasped when the older woman walked out onto the platform, she was almost unrecognizable.

The older woman had done something to her hair, it was now parted to side and fell to the middle of her back, the grey almost black in the harsh lights. Dressed in only loose pants, her bindings and her hand wraps she looked nothing like the police chief who could just about terrify anyone with a mere look.

Not at all surprised by the cheering that erupted from the crowd Korra lent forward and waited eagerly for the match to start.

"One round … one shot to dethrone the champion and win the Earth Rumble belt … begin"

The crowd only grew louder as the two earthbenders threw move after move at each other, what Lin lacked in brute strength she made up in agility and skill, always seeming one step ahead of her opponent.

"Sao feels bad about bending against such an old woman" the young man growled, cracking the muscles in his arm in a vain attempt to seem intimidating.

"And I am really not going to feel bad about bending against such a child" she laughed back, her left leg swinging out smoothly, the ground under Sao vanishing as he sunk into the ground up to his biceps.

"Don't talk big if you aren't big" she muttered as she turned to walk to the edge of the arena.

The crowd cheered as Lin moved closer and closer to the edge, paying no attention to the struggling earthbender behind her. Korra laughed along with everyone else and only cheered when Sao finally managed to free himself and sprung up onto his feet again. He crashed one foot against the ground and roared (probably more for himself than the crowd) and everyone watched as the earth between him and Lin shook.

Without missing a step Lin moved one pace to the left and hopped back onto her left leg, the right leg shooting out behind her to kick the small piece of earth that shot up behind her straight into the other earthbenders forehead.

The arena shook with the screams of the crowd as Sao fell flat on his back, knocked out cold. Lin carried on moving and swiped the belt from the young woman waiting at the edge of the platform.

"Our champion for the 7th year running … Lin"

Korra continued to laugh to herself as she strolled out of the arena, ignoring the looks of people she passed as she no longer bothered to blend in with the crowd.

"What are you doing here Avatar?"

Korra turned to find Lin heading in her direction, what appeared to be a leather jacket thrown over one shoulder and her champion's belt thrown over the other.

"Am I not allowed to attend illegal bending events like the next person?"

"Not when I am taking part in them"

Lin fell into step with the young woman, the pair heading back towards the house.

"Have you really been taking part in Earth Rumble for the last 7 years?"

Lin smiled and nodded.

"Ever since my mother took me to see it when Su and I were children I had always dreamt about taking part … And when I found out that Guzo was searching for a new arena just after my mother left for the swamps I decided it was an opportunity that I couldn't turn down"

Korra laughed, her head shaking in the moonlight.

"Could you imagine Tenzin's face is he knew you were competing … I thought his head might explode when he found out I was pro-bending"

"Tenzin was the same when Kya, Cousin Izumi and myself competed … even when we won every match we took part in he still fretted"

The pair stopped at the bottom of the path that led up to the back entrance of Lin's house. Lin shifted everything she was carrying into one hand and waved the other, her back door opening smoothly.

"You coming in … It's a bit late for a young woman to be travelling back to Republic City by herself"

Korra nodded … not going to turn down the offer to go back into the impressive building. Following Lin in the house she shut the door behind her.

"Why do you compete?"

Lin stopped at the kitchen counter, her items placed on top.

"Not that I actually have to tell but I enjoy it … as much as I love metal bending … earthbending always came more naturally to me … and this tournament allows me to prove that even if your old you can still kick butt the old fashioned way".

Again Korra nodded, understanding the older woman's words.

"Now if you tell anyone about this I will make sure that every picture I took of you and your wife on that double date with Kya and myself gets posted all over the city … especially Tenzins office … do you understand?"

The young waterbender nodded … knowing exactly which pictures she was talking about.

"I wont say a word … and I can't believe you still have those pictures … I warned all three of you that I don't deal well with large quantities of alcohol before we had even headed out"

Lin scoffed and pushed the younger woman into the lounge.

"You won't have to worry about if you keep it between the two of us, although I won't be upset if you feel the need to inform Asami … now go to bed … I still have a few days of leave left … I think I am going to teach you some new moves in the morning"

"I always knew being nosey had its benefits" called Korra as she watched the older woman head up the stairs laughing.


End file.
